If you have low performers in need of development, the ECI Behavioral Insight^® can provide targeted areas of development against traits that are linked to success in that role.   ECI can also help teams perform better together by understanding each other’s style.  Further, we can help you ensure that employees are maximizing their potential through individual and team development, 360° feedback tools and/or custom Competency Assessment centers.  Moreover, as your company grows or as marketplaces change, job descriptions and core competencies can shift, leaving employees without a clear direction and vision to work towards.  ECI has the experience and ability to help your organization by developing updated core competencies and job descriptions which align to the organization’s new goals and culture.   After all, ensuring your employees understand their roles and how to grow within your company helps protect your most important asset from turnover, poor job fit, burnout, and low performance!

I liked this article because it more or less confirms what we have been doing in our research for the past 15 years.  Our business, ECI, founded in 1996, is built upon the identification of high performance behaviors in a variety of environments and roles using statistical analysis of performance metrics. Like Google, we have found that this type of data analysis yields a valid and reliable formulation of the root cause for success.

But since we have been focusing all of our attention on identifying high performance behaviors within organizations, here are our best practices that Google’s analysts might want to consider on the next round of Oxygen studies:

1. It is not sufficient to screen for key words in performance reviews and anecdotal information. While that practice might put you in the ballpark, it won’t get you to your seat. There is too much variance and inconsistency in prose type performance reviews. If you really study a block of performance reviews, you find that most managers are not appropriately trained in giving objective, actionable feedback, nor are they consistently assigning ratings to performers.  This inconsistency of ratings across the review process skews the data.
2. Use force rank against a Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale to identify quartiles of performance for your overall population.  The overall ratings assigned in the standard performance review process cannot be relied upon to indicate who is the better manager. In our studies, we find that in 60% of companies, ratings are assigned for some other purpose than to evaluate actual performance levels. These include attempting to norm a population to a bell curve for compensation purposes, feeling that someone deserves a raise and having to justify this with the performance rating, and favoritism by the manager for the most politically savvy performers on the team.
3. Use multiple measures to confirm or overturn the presence of key high performance behaviors.  ECI’s rule is that if you identify a factor in one segment of the study, you must verify its presence in another segment in order to consider it applicable to the model.
4. Use valid and reliable metrics, such as indices, personality assessments, and other proven tools to identify core performance behaviors and behavioral preferences. If you incorporate a couple valid and reliable metrics in the study process, you can statistically compare the findings from these more rigorous tools to the less objective sources of data in your study to know with good certainty that you have proven a relationship to the high performance behaviors/factors you identify.
5. Make sure you include results from job analysis within your study process.  By observing the work in context, using a standardized interview form designed to assess the work environment, and identifying differentiating performance factors using this process, the criteria you establish should  pass the muster of the EEOC, if you decide to use this model for selection or promotional purposes.
6. Use professional statistical tools, such as SPSS, to confirm the validity around your model. When you put people into a room and say “does this look right to you?” or “how would you modify this finding?”, the only thing you are verifying is face validity. That is insufficient, in my estimation, to devise a management development program or another talent management process. You need the numbers to prove your model. Hopefully, the standard you achieve is at least a correlation significance of .70 against the ratings you used to identify your high performing population.
7. Don’t forget to look at the entire population, not just the high performing group. If you only study the top performers, you don’t know if the factor you identified is present for everyone in the group or only high performers possess it. In our studies, for example, we find that all sales people within a large sales force have good self-confidence, can withstand rejection and are motivated to persuade others. While these factors are critical to selling success, the only thing we can say with certainty is that the original screening process used to hire the sales force is doing a good job of identifying these factors. These are the rudimentary factors associated with all successful sales forces; they are essential, but they do not help us to identify the additional factors needed for success in a specific company culture, marketplace or customer group. The unique factors are those that drive exceptional results, lower turnover, and higher job satisfaction.

Google did recognize that generalized industry principles and recommendations are not good enough to really drive their organization’s unique high performing manager behaviors. I commend them for that perspective. I would love to take a look at their data and make a couple of recommendations on how they might enhance the validity and reliability of their study process, however. That would surely be a wonderful conversation.

In those cases, the department of labor and the courts have an easy time classifying a role as non-exempt in status.  The rep is required to make an average 7 – 9 customer visits per day, to deliver two or more key product messages when the opportunity arises to speak with a physician or other professional, and then must ensure that sufficient samples are available for the prescriber to dole out product, based on patient needs.  Because of the heavy focus on measured tasking (even though it is difficult to directly link the use of the product to the message delivered by the rep), the job assessor tends to say that very little is left to the rep’s own choice and that the job is pretty clearly defined in the various systems used to monitor performance.  When the job is clearly defined and leaves little to the choice of the performer, then it is classified as a non-exempt position.  There are a lot more standards that are applied to make this classification, but at the end of the day, freedom of choice on what is done and levels of decision making are at the root of the classification.

Enter the legal department at the pharma company.  In the last couple of years, there has been a strong push in job descriptions to place language around independently developing strategy, establishing priorities for the territory in terms of selling activities, and establishing one’s own daily schedule.  Using the word professional to elevate the role of rep to business “owner”  who is accountable to develop key contacts and manage a broad range of relationships has been an attempt to elevate the expectations of the role.  Somehow, these added wordings don’t quite do enough to elevate the role to the exempt level, however.  The accountabilities are still the same – see the docs, deliver the message, influence drug of choice, and leverage the relationship to access other medical providers.

What is interesting to me is the fact that with the rapidly changing landscape of the healthcare environment, the addition of so much more complexity in healthcare providers, formulary positioning, specialty pharmacies, large IDNs, care provider networks and institutions has made the job of sales rep much more difficult.  Reps have to know the clinical and treatment aspects of their products better than most physicians.  They need to understand how to help the doctor use the product with patients whose access to the drug is limited by their medical coverage or geographic location and care networks.   I doubt that the old reach and frequency model would even work effectively today in many of these situations, outside of some less sophisticated marketplaces that are not as heavily impacted by managed care practices.

A new customer development model that has emerged requires the representative to assess all of the local conditions and to devise a strategy that best addresses these conditions, while aligning to company goals, the compliance and regulatory environment, and physician preferences.  This hardly looks like a non-exempt position when you increase the complexity of the work to this level and note the amount of variation in responsibilities and approach that will is needed to perform the role properly.  Given the amount of technical clinical knowledge needed, the in-depth strategy setting and innovation required to succeed and then the amount of collaboration and networking expected, measuring success is not a simple matter of measuring number of calls, delivering the approved marketing messages, and devising the most efficiency call route.

In recent visits to the field with our client’s reps, we have seen reps changing the treatment preferences of surgeons, helping to gain approval for treatment for non-formulary drugs by establishing pre-approval systems in physician offices, and a much higher presence of medical science liaisons providing targeted messaging to pave the way for treatment protocols into the future.  The level of work being done today, which is surely indicative of the future requirements of the position, is more consultative than it is selling work.  The further the role moves in the direction of consulting, where expertise and counsel are the primary services or products provided to customers, the more difficult it will be to classify rep jobs as non-exempt.

Interesting that this case was settled in the current marketplace in the manner that it was.  Pharma companies are going to need to redefine the rep’s accountabilities, given all the complexity their people are facing today, and to reposition the rep’s defined efforts from purveyors of product to business consultants.   And those reach and frequency models will need to fall by the wayside, too, since they really do not apply to what most high level sales reps are doing today.

I believe this is an indicator of more change coming in the pharmaceutical industry. We will be seeing different sales models, new ways of getting information out to the medical community, and providing value added processes to help offices gain access to treatments for patients.

The premise of a “Stay interview”  is interesting, because it could help an organization to understand why people stay with their company.  This information could be used in many ways.  First, it could be used as a recruiting tool, to attract top talent, by telling them what current employees say about the role and/or company.  Next, it could be used to see which benefits your employees love and which ones aren’t as useful.  Finally, the information can be used to improve efficiency with in the position, by asking employees for their ideas to increase productivity.

Any way you look at the “Stay Interview” it makes sense for a business to try it.  It could have a dramatic effect on an organization, while being cost-effective and easy to use.  Here at ECI, we could actually take the “Stay interview” and put it into a survey  that employees take electronically.  Then we could use performance data to compare the responses of Top Performer against other performance groups to see what your best employee’s really value and how that compares to the others.

If you would like to learn more about ECI’s survey options please contact us!

I heard from a friend who had been laid off that she recently found a job, which made me very happy to hear.  Others are having some luck in finding opportunities to at least interview for, so I believe all these are signs that we are moving forward.

Almost every business owner I have spoken with recently is looking for new ways to do business.  The old ways aren’t working very well, so we need to explore and investigate new methods for offering value to our customers, since it looks as if this is the key thing that many companies are looking for. They will spend their resources, providing they know they are purchasing value and useful strategies or products that will provide a return on investment.

So in my mind, we need to be sure that whatever approach we use in the marketplace ought to be directed toward understanding what issues the customer is facing and how we can enable the customer to get there faster and with a good return on investment.   If we can do that with them, then they will buy our proposals.

Maybe this will be the new wave of the future.  You will need to market yourself for the innovative solutions and services you can provide that help customers put added dollars to the bottom line.  Showing the return on investment will help you to distinguish yourself from others.  People are looking at the numbers, so if you can calculate out how much the investment will return to or save them, you might be heard more frequently.

It makes you wonder.  What is wrong with me?  Aren’t I doing a good job?  Can I do something different to get promoted?  The true answer to this question really depends on the person and the circumstances.  But more often than not, it is an issue of people not seeing you in the new role or having questions about how effective you might be in the new role.

Let’s take a look at some real situations, names removed, of course, to protect the candidates.

1.  Dan was hired to manage various projects at a small company.  He was a loyal worker who took his responsibilities seriously.  He took pride in doing a good job and worked well beyond the expected hours in order to make sure nothing was overlooked and that he did all the work as planned.  In meetings and when working with others, however, he was not a team player.  He procrastinated and some team members had the experience of having to pick up the slack, since he didn’t have his part finished according to the due dates the team had agreed on.  When it came time to discuss performance, Dan looked for a promotion to a manager level.  He wasn’t given the promotion.  The reason, which he had difficulty accepting, was that if he couldn’t manage his own work in a timely way, how will he be able to oversee the work of others?  His response was that doing the work and managing the work were two different skills.  His manager said this was true, but how did he expect to manage team members who had previously had to do his work because he didn’t get it finished on time and failed to ask for help?

2.  Michael had responsibility for dealing with customers in a sales situation.  He was an excellent source of knowledge and advice to his customers.  He knew how to negotiate a favorable deal and he always followed up to ensure that everything arrived as planned for the customer’s order.  Customers loved him.  But in handling his coworkers, he was directive, he was demanding, did not listen, and often inappropriately teased coworkers in front of others.  A manager’s position came up and he felt that he was next in line for the job.  He was passed over for someone whom he had trained.  He seriously considered quitting.  Aren’t I good enough?  Haven’t I produced a lot of business for the company?

3.  Joe was consistently late for work and often left early for various personal reasons.  He took long lunches and coworkers wondered why he got away with this when he was the first one to complain when they needed a few extra minutes.  He thought he was definitely management material.  While his work was good, his personal attitude was a real source of discussion for many people in the organization.  When he wasn’t promoted, he had difficulty understanding that he was undermining his credibility by holding himself to different standards than others.

All three of these individuals were passed over for the same reason, the reason being that they held themselves to different standards than they held others to.  Dan wasn’t really a team player and didn’t really care if someone else had to pick up his work.  Michael didn’t treat his coworkers the way he treated his customers.  And Joe felt that he didn’t have to abide by the company policies.  These issues are all attitude issues and are one of the most common reasons employers state as the reason they will pass someone over for a promotion.

If you want to get promoted, even though it is hard to hear, you need to be professional in everything you do. Whether it is working on the team, interacting with others or making sure that you abide by company policies, people who get promoted are usually the ones who get the basics right first. Don’t let things that you can control get in the way of getting promoted.

The second group, the service providers, are companies or organizations that provide services to the population, the elderly, home health care, governmental agencies, and those organizations where people go to get help for a particular need.  There are a good many opportunities in these sectors for jobs.  Nursing and health providers, lab positions, claims managers and insurance positions, support staff in hospitals and institutions, clinics and medical facilities have openings as well.

If you want to get noticed by these potential employers, how will you do this?  Here are some ideas to help you along.

1.  Make sure to read the job qualifications and only apply if you can meet these qualifications.  Many on-line search engines use coded queries to pick out those applicants who list the specific experiences presented in the job posting.  If you have the experience, then show it in your application in the terminology used to describe the position in the job posting.  Don’t trust that someone will read your written responses and be able to figure out that you really do have the experience, particularly if you didn’t list it the way it was stated in the job posting.   You are probably dealing with software doing the job of the initial screening and it will do this through a word-matching and number of years matching process.

2.  Follow the directions.  If the posting says “no calls, please”, then don’t call, unless you know someone who works at the company who can put in a good word for you.  You want the potential employer to know that you understand how to follow directions.

3.  Meet the deadlines.  If the posting says “submit your complete information by Friday, April 5, then have your information completed and submitted by close of business on Friday, April 5th.

4.  If you need special certifications for particular jobs, such as licenses or training, be sure that you have completed this training, testing, or classroom activities, and that you have the proof of your successful passing of any tests required.  If you are interested in particular jobs, such as nursing or lab technician positions, then go to school and get your certifications while you are looking for a new job.  This way, you may be able to get your school to help you find a job in this area, as many companies recruit from local training institutions.

5.  If you graduated from a college, go back to your alma mater and ask them for assistance with job hunting.  Many colleges have excellent staff who can help you find a new position and often have requests for people of a specific background, just waiting for someone to express interest.

The long and the short of it is that there are still  jobs out there.  The caveat is that the job you think you want may not be the one you will find.  A lot of the old standard jobs aren’t available any longer.  But there are some new jobs for you to consider.   Be open minded and look at the posted experience requirements.  If you can comply, go ahead and apply.  Be persistent every day.  You just might find a job you will really enjoy and one you never expected you might get hired for!

People change when the pain of change is less than continuing to do things as they always did.  So, in the case of cultural integration, some work needs to be done to disable old habits and preferences of the merging organizations, either to come to new consensus on what the culture will be, to impose one of the cultures on the whole organization, or to begin again to devise a new culture.  There are no in-between strategies here, folks.  This is one you have to make a decision around and then put the plan in place to make it happen.

The best way to do this is to go through the basic steps an organization does as it is devising a culture.  Build the mission and vision, decide how to communciate this vision and mission across the organization, execute the communication plan, communicate some more, communicate one last time, and then insist.

Rewarding demonstration of the cultural expectation is a positive way to make sure people follow the new expectations.  Enabling teams to determine how they will live the new cultural vision in their teams is another way.  And of course, taking action to prevent slipping back to the old ways of doing things is important as well.  Always recognize the successes that teams make in this area, as it proves not only to the organization but to all team members that living the culture is important.

We worked with an insurance agency many years ago that struggled with the integration process for some time before they finally developed a new organization.  It was painful, as it always is, because of the idea that two different organizations were coming together for very specific reasons.  The reasons, however, got mired in the details over who is in charge, what is the chain of command and what are the authority levels of each of the partners.  These are key questions that needed to be answered prior to throwing all the people together at one location, but then they didn’t invite us to help until six months after the combination occurred.  Lessons learned.

So if you are considering an integration, merger or acquision, think about the questions of which organizations/teams afford the most likely cultural model to follow, who will be in charge, and what is the new level of decision making in the combined organization.  And communciate the answers to these, and other key questions, up front before you put the structure and organizational charts on paper. It makes it so much easier when you have the strategy in place and know the answers to these questions.

Here are some of the terms that we have used and that clients have adopted for their internal use.

• Prudent risk taking – this means that people are able to make decisions on the basis of limited information and that they will rely on their intuition or their gut reaction to choose a course of action
• Act with urgency – this means that when opportunities arise, individuals with rise quickly to take advantage of the situation, particularly when their is an obvious gain at stake
• Strong resiliency – this means that people are able to bounce back quickly when things go wrong.  They are able to move forward in the face of setbacks or challenges.
• High energy – this means people have the gas in their personal tanks to drive action consistently throughout the day
• Low urgency – this means that people have less drive than may be needed to achieve success in an organization

So where did these terms come from?  Most are adaptations from the scales within our assessment tool, the ECI Behavioral Insight.  Interestingly enough, as clients begin to utilize metrics, they begin to think in those terms.  Such tools provide an objective benchmark system against which to compare various individuals or groups of individuals within an organization. They become descriptors of the culture and enable team members to understand what good behavior looks like.

In a way, I suppose, this is a compliment to us and our work.  To me, it is a way to know that we have made a positive impact on an organization and perhaps helped people to understand what the cultural expectations are.

One problem she faced was having to manage a large number of hourly workers.  These people were handling a lot of transactions each day, were responsible for entering complex data accurately, and had to answer a lot of inquiries to move transactions through the process.  Unfortunately, they were also stressed out and had many items on their agendas, some typical to a traditional hourly workforce.  The vast majority of her team members were women who were single heads of households trying to make ends meet while juggling children, elderly parents or other problems that faced them.  For many, work provided the only stable environment in their lives.

She learned early on that the best thing she could do for the team was to establish a fair set of rules and guidelines for work and to ensure that these were followed consistently for everyone on the team.   Within her team, she had a number of supervisory staff, many of whom had worked their way up to their positions through their own hard work and through promotion.   In her mind, it wasn’t the hourly staff who caused the majority of the issues, but rather the way in which some of the supervisors handled the problems.

Favoritism, giving a break once and having the break expected every time, not having the courage to take action when a problem first began, and ignoring some issues all were actions that caused workers to become problems.  I certainly am not saying that the majority of issues arose from the supervisory staff, but had the supervisors followed the rules consistently and applied them fairly, many of the people who became problem employees would have been reformed or gone before becoming problem employees.

People become very resentful of problem employees, even though as a leader, you probably aren’t hearing much from anybody.  The impact of the problem employee is often far-reaching.  Other team members end up taking messages and answering phones, picking up the slack for their troubled worker partner, and generally feeling as if they are being used by the organization.  And the impacted team members are unlikely to speak up, since that might make them appear as if they are complaining.

Once the problem worker is gone, however, there is often a sigh of relief.  the hidden impact of problem workers can be significant.  Since it is a new year, it might be a good time to discuss how supervisors are handling people with problems.  Your remaining team members will be grateful.